A coding system to describe the nature of recent mammalian specimens is presented. It addresses human and computer restrictions while remaining flexible and expandable. A single term is comprised of two parts, a primary descriptor and a secondary descriptor, that are separated by a hyphen. The primary descriptor of this code indicates the parts of a specimen that have been prepared. The secondary descriptor of the code indicates the preparation methods used. Several terms may be required to adequately describe a specimen. Standardized terminology used to describe the condition of a specimen for collection management purposes is also presented. Useful, unique, and consistent strings are the optimal goal from a perspective of computer compatibility.